Protected
by SharpayRocksTheStage
Summary: She just wanted to be loved, she wanted to be wanted. She just wanted to be protected! TROYPAY
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The doors to East High slammed as three people walked into the school. If you would have just seen them walking down the street, you would have thought that they were just a typical American family. But, for the students of East High, they were _the _American family. Jack, Lisa, and Troy Bolton were currently walking down the halls of East High towards the backstage doors of the auditorium. As they neared, Troy could barely hear singing coming from the large room, but could not identify the singer, herself. All of a sudden, it stopped, and you could hear nothing, but the faint sounds of sobs. Troy was, at first, taken aback by the crying, but then he got curious.

He bravely opened the backstage door to reveal a petite blonde sitting on the front of the stage with her back turned his way. 'No way' he thought as he realized who it was crying into her knees. He stepped back and looked at his confused parents. "Go around to the main doors and come in, in like ten minutes." Troy was trying to think up a plan to talk to Sharpay without having her blow up at him, like she normally would, but he couldn't think of anything. He walked all the way through the door and shut it behind him.

"Sharpay?"

The blonde turned around and looked at Troy and lay down on her back. She looked up at the ceiling and cried out in a sarcastic tone: "Thanks GOD! This is really what I needed right now: Bolton in the same room with me!" She quickly got up, dusted herself off, and turned to Troy. "What are you doing here, Bolton? You're an hour early."

"So are you."

"What's your point? I can be in here whenever, there's a reason I'm president of the drama club, Troy!"

"Oh my god! Did you just call me TROY??"

"That is your name isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But nothing, Troy, I just really need to be alone right now."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what you're crying over, Sharpay." He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world."

"Well, then I guess you're not leaving." She started to walk off when Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, with them ending up awkwardly close to each other.

"Sharpay, please, just tell me what's wrong." Sharpay looked up into his light blue, ocean-like eyes. BIG MISTAKE!!

"If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone without my permission. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay, but you have to let me go first." She said when she realized that they were still inches apart.

"Oh, right…" he let go of her and blushed a soft pink. "Sorry."

"It's okay, now I'm going over there," she pointed to stage right where there was a vanity set up, "to do my hair and makeup for tonight. You may stay here and look like an idiot, or you may join me."

"Sharpay, why are you doing your hair and makeup? You're not in the show."

She was about to answer his question when they heard the main doors to the auditorium shut behind them. They turned around to see two figures walking towards them at a steady pace. Sharpay thought nothing about it, and sat down to do her hair. The two figures walked onto the stage, when she realized who it was. She thought about getting up and introducing herself, but she realized how incredibly awkward that would be, seeing as how they were probably watching their son and this strange girl the whole time. But she could hear them in the background.

"Hey, Troy. Is Mrs. Darbus around?" she heard his mother saying to him.

"No, why?"

"We just wanted to speak with the director of our son's first musical." Sharpay turned around just to see the annoyed look on Troy's face, but then realized what she had said. Director? Oh, peachy! She stood up, put on a smile, and walked up to the family.

"Hi, I'm Sharpay Evans. Unfortunately, Mrs. Darbus had to be put in the hospital, so as President of the Drama Club, I'm directing the show tonight."

Troy looked at her in disbelief. "You're directing the show?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you even know how to direct a musical?"

"Of course I do, Troy! Remember: the 'Ice Queen'," she used finger quotes when she said that, "is perfect at everything. You said so yourself." She turned to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton who were confused right now. "Excuse me."

Sharpay turned back around and walked back to her vanity just to sit back down on her pink fuzzy chair.

Troy looked at his parents with an annoyed look on his face, and turned to walk towards Sharpay. "Shar that was a long time ago!"

"1. Don't call me Shar and 2. It was two months ago Troy, that's not a long time!"

He sat down on a stool next to Sharpay and put his arm around her. "Sharpay, look at me. Things have changed between us. That was before I knew you for you." Sharpay stood up, while falling out of Troy's grasp.

"Troy, you still don't know me! Do you really know anything about me?!"

"I know that one of your favorite movies is Donnie Darko, which you also starred in as 'Kim: the dorky girl'. I know that your two favorite candies are Swedish Fish and chocolate flavored Gummy Bears. I know that your favorite ice cream is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. And I also know that you have a maltipoo named Blondie."

"You could have read any of that on my blog! If you think you know me so well, than what's my worst fear?!" Sharpay was practically yelling at Troy now, which kind of intimidated Jack and Lisa.

"Thunderstorms." Sharpay stopped dead in her tracks.

"How did you know that? I've only ever told Ryan that." She still wasn't facing Troy.

"See, unlike other guys, Sharpay, I pay attention to you, not just your amazing body." Just as Sharpay turned around, about to tease Troy about how he thought she had an amazing body, she felt a pair of lips hit hers and she felt her body tingle. She responded, of course, but was disappointed when he broke the kiss shortly after. Sharpay just stood there in total shock, with her eyes and mouth wide open. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were in shock too. Just then a rustling sound behind her made her whip around. She saw a grinning Ryan come through the back door. He walked up to the two of them, put his hands on their shoulders and simply said: "Finally!"

Sharpay was confused. She brushed past Troy and walked up to Ryan. "Finally, what?" She said with an aggravated tone is her voice.

"Sharpay cut the Drama Queen act! And you know exactly what I mean! You two have been practically in love with each other since kindergarten. Sharpay blushed. "Wait! Shar? Did you just blush over Troy Bolton?!"

"NO!"

"I think you did!" he said sending Troy a wink over her shoulder. He went to walk away when he felt 108 lbs. collapse on his back. "Shar! Get off of me! I'm going to tell Mom that you were harassing me again!"

Sharpay suddenly slid off of her brother's back and walked back to her vanity, to hopefully hide her tears from her brother, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton(who were still standing there awkwardly), and most of all, Troy. Ryan walked over to her and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, Shar. I wasn't thinking."

"I'll be fine, Ryan." She said wiping away the tears from running down her cheeks. "I'm not going to let anything bring me down tonight, especially my stupid mother." She said as she slammed her mascara onto her vanity and getting up frustrated. "Oh my god! She's coming tonight isn't she! Great, now I'll have to face her afterwards saying 'oh look, Sharpay, I was right! You are a horrible actress and singer! You didn't get the lead after all! Yay me!' Could this day get any worse?!" she yelled as she lied down on the stage.

Troy looked up at Ryan and nodded to him. He lied down beside Sharpay on the stage with his hands behind his head. "Guess what Pay?" he looked over at her and was happy that she was smiling obviously liking her new nickname.

"What?" she said, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

"I talked to Gabriella today and she said she was sick."

"Good for her!!"

"No, Pay. She has strep throat."

"So?"

"Five, four, three, two,-"Ryan was counting down on his watch.

"Oh my god!" Sharpay looked at Troy and jumped up, as did he. "No way! You have to be kidding me!"

"I wouldn't kid about that, Pay! Especially with you!" he pulled her into a hug and then she ran over to Ryan and jumped into his arms, nearly knocking him over. She apologized went to the middle of the stage, looked out into the open seats, and almost screamed: "18!"

Just then, the older Boltons started to get really confused. Jack tilted his head to the side a bit and asked: "What just happened here?"

"When?" Sharpay asked confused at what he meant.

"Since we walked in the door."

"Okay…when you walked in the door, I was about to tell Troy the reason I was crying, and then you asked to see the director-"

"Pay!" Troy interrupted. "I think they just meant in general." He laughed at her obvious embarrassment. He went on: "Well, we got into a 'fight' and then I completely shocked Pay with my amazing kissing abilities!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Troy! Anyway, Ryan came in and spoiled the whole moment and-"

Mrs. Bolton stopped Sharpay from going on: "Who is Ryan, again?"

"I'm her older brother." He knew that would annoy her.

"Ryan, you're older than me by two minutes! Give it a break, already!"

"Hey, I've got to look out for my little sis!" he said trying to aggravate Sharpay, which worked.

"Anyway, as I was saying! And then the subject of my mom came up, which is kind of a long story. After that Troy told me that I get to be the lead, again!" She said as she jumped into Troy's arms. Lisa liked this girl all ready!

Jack looked at Sharpay, still confused. She noticed this and said: "What's up?"

"What was the whole "18!" thing for?

Troy was quick to answer since he knew exactly what it was. "Pay has been in seventeen school productions and this one will make eighteen."

Lisa was appalled! "Wow! Seventeen school productions in eleven years! Wow! How do you find time to do anything else?"

"I don't know, but I do!" she looked at her watch. "Oh, crap! Troy we need to go get our costumes on." She quickly grabbed his hand as he froze up. "Troy Bolton! Troy! Troy!" He was in total shock.

"Oh my god, Sharpay, we haven't practiced our lines, done hair, makeup or-" hoping to shut him up, Sharpay lightly kissed him on the lips. "What was that for?"

"It was to shut you up, but if your saying you didn't like it, then I guess I won't do it anymore." she started to walk off, when he pulled on her hand and brought her back for another. But, instead of letting his lips crash into hers, she held up her hand and he ended up kissing it instead of her lips.

"Hey!"

"We need to get ready mister!" She pulled him along with her to the costume rack.

As Sharpay took out all of her costumes, Troy examined them. They were all some shade of pink, and covered with sequins and rhinestones. "Pay, those aren't the same outfits that Gabriella tried on."

"I know these are mine. I always make my own costumes, even if I am a runner-up. I like to stand out in a way no one else does."

Troy admired her passion for acting and for musical theatre. He loved the way that she almost zoned out every time she talked about it. He was soon zoomed back into the real-world when someone announced that it was five minutes to opening scene, which were Arnold and Minnie (Troy and Sharpay). "Do you want to go over your lines one more time Troy? You look a little nervous."

"I am a little but I'll be fine. I just hope I don't get stage fright right in the middle of a scene."

"If you do, I know all your lines and I am a really good improv! But, just think of it like this: It's just you and me up there, no one else exists. When you're singing, sing to me. When you're speaking, speak to me. No one else exists." She looked deep into Troy's blue eyes, shut her own, and leaned in and gave him the kiss of a lifetime. They only broke when they barely heard their names being called by Ryan, who was now directing the play.

"Troy, Sharpay! It's your opening scene!" They rushed out onto the stage. The whole play went perfectly, and then it came to their last scene.

_Troy (Arnold)_** Sharpay (Minnie) **Normal

_But Minnie, I'm the one who loves you for who you truly are. The others are just entranced by your looks! They don't care whether you're sweet on the inside, they just care that you're sweet on the outside._

**How should I know that you're telling the full truth?**

Suddenly, Troy (as Arnold) got down on one knee.

_Minnie, will you accept my hand in marriage as a symbol of my true love for you?_

Sharpay (as Minnie) suddenly walked onto the other side of Troy (as Arnold), and paced for a moment. Troy's (Arnold's) head fell slightly as he got up and began to walk off stage. All of a sudden, Sharpay (as Minnie) cries out:

**YES!**

She ran to him and jumped into his arms, and suddenly Troy (as Troy) kissed Sharpay (as Sharpay) just as passionately as he would in private. Sharpay pulled back, shocked, and forgetting about her microphone attached to her dress, she said to Troy:

"That wasn't scripted." She suddenly blushed when she heard her comment echo through the hallowed hall. They heard gasps from every direction.

"I love you, Sharpay Evans."

"I love you too, Troy Bolton." And with that their lips re-attached. The curtain man was in too much of a shock to realize that he should probably close the curtain, so Ryan quickly ran across stage, getting laughs from everyone in the audience, and closed the curtain as fast as he could. The couple finally broke apart and got ready for the curtain call. Everyone had gone, except for Troy and Sharpay. They had been trying to think of a cute way to end the curtain call, so when their time came, Sharpay and Troy had changed into outfits much like Ryan and Sharpay used for 'Bop to the Top'. They appeared, looked at each other, and tangoed out to the front of the stage. While everyone was still clapping and the curtain was about to go down Sharpay suddenly yelled:

"Wait!" She still had her microphone on, so everyone heard her over the loud clapping and cheering. Everyone stopped and looked at Sharpay. "We are missing two very important people up on this stage tonight." First she turned to stage left and held out her hand as Ryan walked out onto the stage. "Secondly, the only reason I am up here on this stage tonight is because one of my peers got strep and couldn't perform. So give Gabriella a cheer, everybody." She held her arm out to Gabriella in the front row for her to join them on stage but she didn't move.

Sharpay looked back into the audience. "Come on, Gabi; get your butt up here!" Gabriella still didn't move. The next thing everyone knew, Sharpay was slipping off of her heels, jumping off of the stage, and walking up to Gabriella. "Come on!" Sharpay grabbed her hand and dragged her up onto the stage.

Gabriella, without thinking, said: "Hey everybody!" just loud enough so it picked up on Sharpay's microphone. Sharpay turned and looked at her.

"You don't have strep!"

"No, I was never sick, Sharpay." Sharpay was really confused.

"Than why did you give up your spot in the musical?" Gabriella turned and looked at Sharpay:

"I knew that there was someone else who wanted this, or even needed this, more than I did. Who am I kidding? Sharpay, you're the star here and you deserve to be on this stage tonight singing and dancing your heart out, just like you love doing. I know that someday you will go on to be some famous actress or Broadway star, and I know that, on your resume, every credit counts. And this one belongs to you." Sharpay was allowing tears of joy to fall down her cheeks. None of her friends had ever spoken to her like that. None of them had ever cared this much. "Sharpay, just promise me this: do everything it takes to be the best you can be and I want to see you get into Juilliard after senior year!"

"No problem!" Sharpay leaned in and hugged Gabriella until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Troy smiling at her. He leaned down so that his mouth was right next to her ear, so no one else would hear.

"My parents want to know if you want to spend the night tonight so we can talk and get to know each other a bit better."

"Oh, sure that sounds great! I've just got to go home and shower and then I'll be over." Right as she said that, she heard a crash of thunder outside the doors. Troy realized what was up and smiled at her.

"Why don't I come with you?" he said while hugging her.

"Thank you, Troy…" she leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips and hugged him tighter as she laid her head on his chest. She felt so good when she was with him. She felt so protected…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sharpay and Troy arrived at her house about half-an-hour later, after changing out of their costumes and saying some last few words. They were currently standing out in the rain, while Sharpay tried to unlock the front door. She finally got it opened up and the two ran inside.

"So this is it! Home, sweet home!" Sharpay said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Wow, Pay, your house is amazing!" Troy was stunned as he walked inside. The house had a sort of Venetian theme to it.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you lived here! I'm home alone a lot, and I don't like being alone in such a big house."

"I could see that."

"Yeah…so, my room is up this way." She said, leading him up a set of stairs and through a single door. "Here it is!"

Troy was amazed at how cool her room was. Her walls were a medium pink, and on one wall, there was a big symbol that said S.E. that was in a lighter pink. Troy recognized the symbol from off of her car, her locker, and everything she owned.

"Pay? What's with the symbol?"

"My father had that drawn when I turned thirteen, and he had it put on everything I owned, so that I would know that that was mine and no one else could call it their's. I have full copyrights to it."

"Wow, that really cool…"

"Yeah. So I just need to take a shower and pack an overnight bag, and we can go!"

"Okay, cool."

"Make yourself at home." And with that, she walked into her bathroom and shut the door. Troy heard the shower turn on, and got up from the bed. He walked over to a set of double doors and opened them slowly. He gasped as he realized that it was Sharpay's closet. It was absolutely huge! He couldn't believe it; she had a full wall of nothing but shoes. And then she had a full sunglasses display, a hat rack, and a half-wall, with nothing but drawers on it. Troy couldn't guess what you would put in your closet in a drawer until he opened the top one. His eyes got really big as he saw what was inside.

"Like what you see?" he looked up to see Sharpay with a grin on her face standing there in a pink towel. She winked at him and walked closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him and looked at him like she was about to kiss him, but instead she just grabbed a pair of pink, lacy underwear out of the drawer that Troy still had open and was standing in front of. He leaned down to kiss her, when she walked out of the closet and back into the bathroom. Troy decided to walk back into her bedroom, before he saw anything else he shouldn't see.

A few minutes later, Sharpay walked out from her bathroom in a pink robe that, along with everything else, had a big SE on the back, which was in rhinestones. "Are we doing anything tomorrow, Troy?" she turned to look at him.

"I thought that we might go bowling or see a movie."

"Okay."

"Hey, by the way, where's Blondie?" Sharpay pointed at the pillows on her bed, and Troy saw a little bit of white hair sticking up from in between.

"She's probably terrified! She's about as scared of thunderstorms as I am, and she's not a big fan of strangers." She walked over to the hiding dog, and picked her up. Blondie immediately hid her face in Sharpay's hair. "Blondie," she pulled her out from her hair, "it's alright, you're okay." Sharpay sat down next to Troy and looked at him and back at Blondie. "Blondie, this is Troy. We like Troy." Sharpay gave Troy a kiss on the cheek, and held Blondie up to him. He took her and put her on his shoulder. Blondie immediately licked Troy on the cheek and barked softly.

"I think she likes you, Troy." Sharpay said with a smile on her face.

"Good, because I can't have my best girl's best pup not liking me, now can I?" All of a sudden a big crash of thunder was heard and Blondie started to shake. Sharpay took her from Troy and held her.

"Troy, I don't think I can leave Blondie, tonight. Not with it like this outside."

"Then bring her with you. My mom loves dogs, and my dad really doesn't care so, you should bring her."

"Are you sure that your parents would be cool with that? Can we call them and ask?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I will call them." He picked up his phone and dialed his mom's number. "Hey mom! Sharpay is being hesitant on coming over because she doesn't want to leave Blondie at home…that's what I told her, she just wanted to make sure it was okay…thanks mom…bye!" he hung up the phone and looked at Sharpay. "So what all do we need for this little one?"

Sharpay laughed and went to her closet and pulled out a pink dog carrier with a compartment underneath to hold all of her stuff. She quickly went back inside her closet and opened a drawer that had all of Blondie's stuff in it. She took out a leash, a bag of dog food, and two bowls. Sharpay came back out of her closet and placed the items in the carrier. Blondie all of a sudden started to get excited when she realized that she was going somewhere. "Let me just get my clothes together and then I'll be ready." Sharpay walked over to her closet and came back out with a pair of white Nikes with a black and pink swish, jeans, and a white shirt with angel wigs on it that said 'Saint I Ain't'. Once she had gotten all of her stuff out of her bathroom that she needed, they were ready to go.

They walked down the stairs just as Ryan was walking in the door. "Hey, Ryan! I'm staying over at Troy's tonight. And I don't know what time I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay! Have fun!"

"Thanks Ry!" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out the door. She jumped in the car and left Troy there with Ryan.

"Hey, Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad that you two are together now. You're like all she ever talked about." Troy blushed when Ryan said this and Ryan just laughed. "Take good care of her man!"

"I will, don't worry!"

"See you!"

"See you!" Troy ran down to his car, put Sharpay's stuff in the back, and got in the driver's side. "Alright, let's go!"

They drove the five minute drive to Troy's house and he parked the car in the driveway. They grabbed Sharpay's stuff and ran up to the house, where Troy unlocked the door and opened it. They walked inside to find Mr. and Mrs. Bolton on the living room couch watching an episode of 'John from Cincinnati'. Mrs. Bolton was the first to greet the two teens.

"Oh, hi!" She got up and hugged the two of them. "Now where's our second guest?" she turned to Sharpay, who reached down and took a shivering Blondie out of her carrier. She stopped shaking when Sharpay held her. When she was calm, Sharpay handed her to Troy and Blondie licked him on the cheek and cuddled into his jacket.

"This is Blondie, mom."

"She's so cute! And she's a maltipoo?"

"Yes."

"Well, she's adorable." Mrs. Bolton was still petting the dog.

"Yeah, I think we're going to go upstairs and watch a movie or something."

"Alright."

"Night, mom."

"Night, Mrs. Bolton." Sharpay began to follow Troy up the stairs, when she heard someone speak behind her.

"Please, call me Lisa."

"Good night, Lisa." Sharpay laughed to herself.

"Much better!"

Troy and Sharpay dropped her stuff off in the guest room and then headed to Troy's room to watch a movie. Sharpay sat on the bed with Blondie in her lap. "What movie are we going to watch?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"Do you have 'The Skeleton Key'?"

"Of course, that movie rocks!" he picked up the movie and put it in the DVD player. Then he sat down on the bed next to Sharpay. He hit PLAY on the remote and the movie started. At the beginning of the movie, the two were sitting a good foot away from each other, but by halfway through, Sharpay had scooted over right next to Troy with her head resting on his chest. A scary part came on and Sharpay jumped and buried her face in Troy's chest. He smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around her small body. All this time, Blondie had been under the covers with her face hidden. Soon, the movie was over and it was time for bed. Sharpay went to get up when a clash of thunder hit. Troy saw her body tense up and felt bad.

"Pay, why don't you just sleep in here?"

"Troy, your parents…"

"They'll understand. I don't want you getting freaked out tonight. Plus, we wouldn't want to wake Blondie up, would we?" he motioned towards a lump at the bottom of the bed and Sharpay saw Blondie snoozing happily.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am positive."

"Okay." She lies down next to Troy and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Lisa Bolton was up and about at about 8:30. She decided to check on the kids just to make sure they were okay. First she stopped at the guest room, where she saw nothing but a made bed and a few pink bags. Officially confused, she walked down to Troy's room and slightly opened the door. There, were the two teens. Troy was lying behind Sharpay with his arms around her waist and Sharpay's head was leaning on his chest. Blondie was snuggled up to Sharpay and Sharpay had her hand resting on Blondie's back. Lisa smiled to herself until she realized what she was looking at here. She quickly walked into the room and poked Troy, who barely moved. She did it a couple of more times until his eyes finally propped open. He looked up at his mother, who had a stern look on her face. He knew what was coming, so he got up and followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen. She turned to look at him.

"Troy, we told you she could spend the night if she slept in the guest room. It's unacceptable for you two to be sleeping in the same bed!"

"Mom, it's not like we did anything!"

"It doesn't matter."

"Mom, last night after the movie Sharpay was going to go to sleep in the guest room, but I offered her to stay with me because she doesn't like thunderstorms and I didn't want her freaking out. She was hesitant because she didn't want to upset you, but I told her that you'd understand. So this is all me, mom. She has nothing to do with it."

Just then a half asleep Sharpay came walking down the stairs. _How does she manage to always look beautiful?_ Troy thought to himself. "Good morning, Pay!" Troy smiled at her. Sharpay looked up at him and smiled back.

"Good morning, Troy." She suddenly looked over to where Lisa was standing and looked back at Troy with a worried expression looming on her face. Troy realized what she was implying and just laughed.

"I already told her the whole story, Pay. Don't worry about it." Sharpay got a relieved look on her face.

"Oh, thank the lord! Good morning, Lisa!"

"Good morning, Sharpay! Would you like something to drink?" Lisa was trying to be as kind as possible considering the circumstances.

"I'm fine for now. Just a little sleepy because someone kept waking up last night because of the storm." She looked down by her feet and it was the first time that Lisa or Troy had noticed the little white dog sitting by Sharpay's feet. Troy was amazed at how well behaved the dog was.

"Wow, Pay, Blondie is really well behaved. Did you send her to dog military school or something?" Sharpay laughed at his question and replied:

"No, she's been with me since she was about two weeks old."

"How? Aren't they supposed to be eight weeks before you buy them?"

"I didn't buy Blondie, Troy. When I was thirteen, I was riding my bike over to my friend's house and saw something moving behind a bush at this old vacant house and I decided to check it out. When I looked under into the bush, there were five little brand new puppies that had probably been abandoned by their mother. So, I went back home, got a basket, went back to the house and put the puppies in it. I brought them home and cleaned them up, fed them some milk, and raised them for six weeks. I gave them all away except for one and my father said that I deserved to keep one of them as my 'Good Deed Award'."

"Wow, that's cool! So, what are we going to do today?"

"I don't care, you choose."

"I don't care either."

Lisa perked up: "We could all go bowling, or something."

"That sounds cool with me!"

"Me too!" the two teens agreed.

"Okay, how about we all meet back here at noon and we can go eat and go bowling?"

"Sounds great, mom!" Troy looked at Sharpay and nodded towards the stairs. "Okay, we're going to go upstairs for a while and then I'll take Pay by her house so she can take her stuff and Blondie."

"Alright, see you in a little bit."

"Okay." The two teens headed up the stairs and walked back into Troy's room, grabbing Sharpay's stuff on the way.

"Troy, thanks for talking to your mom. That would have been really awkward for me to explain that." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and walked over to sit on his bed next to Blondie.

"Anytime, Pay! I'm going to go take a shower real quick, okay?"

"Alright! I'll be waiting!" Sharpay said with a laugh in her voice.

"Good!" he walked into his bathroom and shut the door, so Sharpay decided to look at the scrapbook that Troy had on his desk. On the front it said 2004-2005, so it would have been last year when they were sophomores. She flipped open to the first page and saw his basketball picture along with their team picture. She flipped to the next page and saw some pictures of him and the guys just hanging out, but it was when she turned the page that a smile came on her face. There was a whole double page devoted to her. The pages were pink and all the writing was done in silver Sharpie, glitter, or rhinestones. On the page was her yearbook picture, her drama club picture, a picture of Troy and Sharpay from drama that neither of them wanted to take at the time, and then there were some candid shots of her around school and at school events. She smiled when she saw a picture of her and Zeke sitting in the cafeteria eating his cookies. Just then, someone cleared their throat behind Sharpay and she looked back.

"What do you think you're doing, Pay?" Troy asked with a smile on his face.

"Troy, you have an entire Sharpay page?" she was clearly touched.

"Yeah, I have for every year since I've been doing these scrapbooks. I guess I started in eighth grade."

"Doesn't your mom ever help you with these?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then how did she not know who I was?"

"Oh, I always come back and add your page when it's all done, so she won't see it."

"Oh."

"But this year's scrapbook is going to be a whole lot better because now I can put pictures of you wherever! Maybe some time we'll get the other's out and look at them."

"That sounds good."

"Cool! Are you ready to go, so we can swing by your house?"

"Yeah, let me just get Blondie real quick." She picked up the small dog and placed her in her carrier, but when she started to whine she took her back out. "What is it, Blondie?" Blondie barked softly and Sharpay realized what she wanted. Sharpay handed the small dog to Troy and Blondie licked him on the cheek. Troy set her back down on his bed and she went straight into her carrier. "See, Troy, great minds think alike." Sharpay kissed Troy on the cheek and picked up Blondie. They headed outside, got in the car, and headed to Sharpay's house, where she went in for a couple of minutes and came back out carrying a pink duffel.

"Pay, what's that for?" Troy motioned towards the bag.

"Oh, it's my bowling stuff." She said as if it was completely obvious.

"You never do anything simply, do you?"

"I try not to. If I did, life would get so boring!"

"Life would never be boring with you, Pay!" Troy just laughed when she smirked back at him. "So, how good a bowler are you, Sharpay?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Sharpay said as she winked it him.

"That bad, huh?" Troy joked.

"You're funny, Troy…real funny!"

"And I don't even have to try! Oh my god, I'm starting to sound like you!"

"I'm rubbing off on you this quick? Wow, I'm impressed!" She turned on the radio and on came one of her favorite songs: "We'll Be Together" by Ashley Tisdale. She started singing it and, for the first time, she really listened to the lyrics. She really felt that this was an appropriate song for how she was feeling right now. She looked over at Troy and saw that he was blushing slightly, she guessed from the song. When it ended, the DJ came back on: "That was 'We'll Be Together' by Ashley Tisdale, dedicated to Sharpay Evans from Troy Bolton."

Sharpay just smiled and looked at Troy. He was an even deeper red now. She cupped his face and turned it towards her. "Thank you…" Then she pulled him in for a marvelous kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After Troy and Sharpay arrived back at the Bolton home, the four left for the bowling alley.

"Your outfit looks stunning, Sharpay," said Lisa as she examined Sharpay's bowling attire. The main fabric was a hot-pink silk that was encrusted with tiny rhinestones. She had two light-pink stripes, running over her shoulders and down the front of the shirt that had a natural sparkle to them. And, of course, there was a light-pink SE on the back of her shirt. She simply had on a pair of black jeans that partially covered her white bowling shoes.

"Thank you," she turned to Troy, "I try to look good as much as possible." She just winked at him and walked up to the alley for her first turn. She wanted to mess with Troy, so instead of bowling normally she guttered the ball on purpose. She bowled again and did the same. She walked back to where Troy was sitting and he said:

"So, I was right, wasn't I?" Sharpay just smirked at him and turned around to watch Jack bowl. He literally bowled like a girl. Jack, with a disappointed look on his face, walked back to them and, seeing the laughter in their eyes, said:

"You know, basketball is more my thing. I don't want to waste my time on something like this."

"Whatever you say, Dad." Troy looked at Sharpay as she got up and picked up her ball. She stood there, looked at the pins, cocked her head to the side, and looked back at Troy. He stood up and walked towards her. "Would you like some help with that, Pay?"

"My hero." she said in a dreamy voice.

"Anytime. Now you just have to hold it like this and pull your arm back. When your arm gets to about here release the ball. But don't fling it, because then you could hurt somebody."

"Very funny," she said as she turned to face Troy.

"Yeah. I know."

"Oh, stop flattering yourself."

"I will once you bowl like a normal person."

"I still don't understand," she said.

"Okay," he said putting his left arm on her waist and his right hand around her own. She felt a small tingle run through her body. Troy must have felt her quiver because he chuckled. Sharpay started to blush when her arm flung back and straight forward.

"STRIKE," yelled Troy as he picked her up and spun her around.

She finally came back down to earth. She hugged him and said, "You're such a good teacher, Bolton."

"Hey! I thought you were done calling me Bolton."

"I think it's cute. Although, it does remind me of basketball a little too much."

"Really?" he said as he put his arm around her waist and led her back to her seat. They looked around and realized that they were alone.

"Where did your mom and dad go?" she asked.

"I think they went to go get food."

After Troy bowled a spare his parents returned with drinks and some snacks. "We're back!"

"Hey, mom! It's your turn."

"Okay." Lisa and Jack bowled and then it was Sharpay's turn again. Troy turned to her: "Pay, do you want me to help you again?"

"No, it's okay." She walked up to the ball return, grabbed the only pink one, and turned towards the alley. Suddenly, the next thing Troy saw was a set of pins shattering at the end of the lane. Troy's mouth was hanging wide open, so when Sharpay walked back to him, she closed his mouth and gave him a peck on the lips.

She walked behind him and sat in her chair. Troy slid back his seat so he was right next to her.

"How did you do that?" he asked

"Magic," she said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay," the Boltons said in unison.

Sharpay got up and walked to the ladies' room. Troy watched her the whole time she was walking away with a smile on his face. He turned back towards the alley and saw a familiar face in front of him.

"Amber?" he said.

"Oh good, you remember my name. And even better that you remember me," she said.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" he said.

"I don't know. I figured since you broke up with me, that you would want to forget me forever. "She said with a fake pouty face.

"Amber, I broke up with you for a reason."

"And what was that?"

"Amber, you were cheating on me with Brock! Why would I have held on to a relationship that was never going to work? Besides I've moved on to better things." All of a sudden he felt her lips crash into his. He tried to escape, but she was unnaturally strong. When he finally did, he looked up to see a petite blonde staring back at him with tears in her eyes. She just shook her head and ran towards the door. He looked at his parents and they nodded for him to go after her. Once he was outside, he spotted the girl slumped against the red brick wall. "Pay-"

"Troy, just leave me alone! I knew this was going to happen! I knew that you never really loved me."

"Sharpay, how could you even say that?! Let alone believe it!" Troy was nearly yelling now and a group of not-so-innocent bystanders were a bit frightened. "I have loved you since the moment that I laid eyes on you! I have never loved another person! You don't even know how incredibly happy I was when you were talking to me last night on the stage! I felt like I finally knew that you liked me back and that gave me the best feeling inside!" Troy was now actually letting tears fall from his ocean-blue eyes.

"If your so deeply in love with me, than who the hell was that?!"

"That was my ex-girlfriend, Amber."

"Who?"

"You know, she's going out with Brock now. Or I guess she is, because she cheated on me with him."

"She did?" Sharpay brightened up, "How could she cheat on someone like you?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't go ask her if I were you." He sat down beside her and she just blushed enough to where the onlookers could see it. They all said 'Aww' at the same time.

Sharpay and Troy both looked at the onlookers and then at each other.

"I should go redo my make-up before anyone I know sees me like this." She attempted to wipe away the black streaks running down her face.

"I think you look beautiful without it, Pay." Troy said getting up from the ground and offering her his hand.

"You're such a suck –up, Troy."

"Well you know you love it."

"Yes, I do."

Sharpay went inside and left Troy outside alone with the creepy people. He glanced at the on-lookers. One of them said to Troy:

"Dude, she is going to be very high maintenance."

"I know, but I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't." he said. He walked inside and went straight to his parents.

"How is she?" his mother looked genuinely concerned.

"She'll be fine. She's just a really emotional girl. You would be too if you went through half of what she has."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'd like to meet her mother sometime, though."

"Why?"

"I want to see how bad she really is."

"Well you have fun with that!"

"Thanks, I will." His mother smirked at him. Sharpay walked back to the alley and sat in her seat without a word or a wink. Troy walked over to her and squatted enough so that he was shorter than her.

In a high- pitched, squeaky voice he said, "Follow the yellow brick road." Sharpay laughed at his bad impersonation of a munchkin. "You know when you went inside, one of those people said to me that you were high- maintenance. And I realized that that's one thing I love about you."

Sharpay smiled and kissed Troy on the cheek. Just then they both heard a tapping noise. They looked up and saw Amber tapping her foot on the wooden flooring. Troy got up and motioned for his parents to leave. They both nodded and went to the snack bar close by, so that they could still hear what was going on. Troy quickly went back to the two girls who were just standing there staring at each other. Troy protectively stood in front of Sharpay and turned to Amber.

"Amber, why can't you just leave us alone? I dumped you a long time ago and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Troy, you know you'll always have a special place in your heart for me." She placed her hand on his chest and, before Troy could do anything, Sharpay was in front of him pushing Amber away.

"Don't touch him!" Sharpay looked at Amber dead in the eye. Amber felt a little intimidated but then turned back to Troy.

"You know, I still can't believe you went from dating the head cheerleader, to dating the school's Ice Bitch!" She turned to Sharpay who was appalled. No one had ever called her a bitch to her face. Sure, they said it behind her back but never straight to her face.

Troy looked at his parents across the room for help, but he realized that they had heard what Amber said and were now in shock. Sharpay: The Ice Bitch? They couldn't believe it. Sharpay seamed so nice and sweet to them. Troy looked back at Sharpay and realized that she was about to say something that she might regret later so he cut her off.

"WELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO-"

"Sharpay, she's not worth it." He turned her around so that she was facing him and he realized that she had tears running down her face. "Pay, she's not worth it. She just says those things because she jealous of you and me." Amber overheard.

"Jealous?! Why should I be jealous of her?!" She pointed to Sharpay and Sharpay had had enough.

"Amber, just leave us the hell alone!" she was yelling practically at the top of her lungs so people were staring at them. "What are you doing here anyway? You have a boyfriend!"

"Brock and I split."

"You mean Brock broke up with you, right?" Sharpay smirked and stepped closer to Amber, who backed up.

"It was mutual!" Amber said, obviously lying.

"Riiiiiiight! Mutual…I should have known! Now if you would be so kind!!" Sharpay pointed towards the door and glared at Amber. Amber huffed and then started walking towards the door. It wasn't until the girl was all the way outside that Sharpay moved. She wiped her tears away, which was pointless since they just kept on falling, and walked towards the bathroom.

Troy was about to chase after her when he realized that she went into the ladies' room. He looked at his mom, who nodded and started to walk towards the bathroom. Once inside she saw Sharpay looking at herself in the mirror. "You're pathetic! She calls you an "Ice Bitch" and you burst into tears!" Sharpay said to herself.

"Sharpay, you're not pathetic." Sharpay turned and realized that Lisa was standing there.

"Look, I'm really sorry for all of this, Lisa. It just got out of control." Sharpay tried to explain.

"I understand, Sharpay."

"Thank you." Lisa walked over towards Sharpay and hugged her, kind-of shocking Sharpay, who hugged back. They pulled apart and Sharpay looked at her. "Lisa, I have to go to this party thing with my mother and brother tonight, and would it be okay if Troy came with me?"

"Of course, it's fine."

"Thank you…for everything. I know this morning was a little awkward, but Troy was just trying to be nice, because he knows how much I hate storms."

"I know, Sharpay. It's fine. I have to tell you that you are my favorite out of all the girls that Troy has dated."

"You don't know how much that means to me." Sharpay smiled one of her genuine smiles.

"Now, shall we go back out there?"

"Yeah, I think so." They walked back out of the bathroom, but stopped when they realized that everyone was staring at them. Sharpay just lowered her head and walked towards Troy.

"Are you going to be okay, Pay?"

"Yeah, I think so." Troy, realizing that she needed a hug, walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her. He looked over her shoulder at his mom and mouthed "thank you" to her. She just smiled.

Sharpay pulled back from the hug and looked up at Troy. "I think I should tell your parents about the whole "Ice Bitch" thing, as Amber so politely puts it."

"Pay, you don't have to explain anything to them."

"I know. It would just make me feel better if they knew."

"Okay."

"Oh, and by the way, your Mom said that you could come with me to that party tonight, so we need to hit the mall and get you a new suit, mister!"

"Sharpay, why do I need a new suit?"

"Because my mom is paying for it and we'll find one that looks great on you."

"Reason enough for me! Do you want to head over there now?"

"Sure, let me just get my stuff together."

"Alright…" Sharpay switched shoes, got her ball, and walked back to Troy. "Are you ready to go, Pay?"

"Yeah…" They walked out the doors and got into the backseat of the Bolton's car. Once they reached the house, the two teens climbed into Troy's car and took off for the mall. Troy and Sharpay arrived and she insisted that they look in Neiman Marcus before anywhere else. Sharpay led him over to the Armani section of the store and automatically found a suit that she liked for Troy. "Oh my god, Troy! Look at this suit!" It was black with a light pink pinstripe in it. "You could wear it with a white shirt and a light pink tie!"

"I like it Pay, but you don't have to buy it for me. I have a perfectly good black suit at home."

"Troy, I'm not paying for anything. And I still have to get my dress for tonight while we're here, anyway."

"Well, thank you. I guess I'll go and try it on."

"I want to see it on you!" Sharpay called after him as he walked into the dressing room with the suit, the shirt, and the tie. He came out a couple of minutes later and Sharpay melted when she saw him. It fit him perfectly and looked amazing with his skin tone. "I love it! Now we need to find a sales clerk."

"Why?"

"So they can find me the perfect dress to go with your suit." She looked around and saw a familiar face. "Brian!" the man turned around. He appeared to work there and was obviously not-straight.

"Sharpay, how are you?"

"Great! Could you help me with something?"

"Of course!" Sharpay took the suit from Troy, who had just changed in the dressing room, and showed it to Brian.

"I need a dress to match this color, for tonight." She explained. Usually she would just have the dress dyed, but now there was no time. When Brian saw the color, his eyes got really big.

"Shar, we just got in the most fabulous dress this morning and it's a one-of-a-kind deal, and I think it would be perfect, but it's a little pricey."

"Mother's paying for it! Let's see the dress, shall we?" Brian led her back into the back of the store where he took the lid off of a pink metallic box. Sharpay gasped when she saw the dress. It was a halter dress that cut kind of low and scooped in the back. At the top, there were Swarovski crystals that were close together, but, as the dress lengthened, they grew further apart. And, it was the perfect pink to match Troy's suit. "Brian, you're a genius! It's perfect! Can I try it on?"

"Yes, you may…and I know I'm a genius!" Sharpay just smiled at him.

"Will you go and get Troy so he can see me in it?"

"Sure, we'll be waiting outside the dressing rooms."

"Thank you." Sharpay picked up the box and took it into the large room with her. As she slipped on the dress, she heard a knock on the door.

"Sharpay, I picked out a pair of heels that I think would go fabulous with that dress."

"Okay, just slip them under the door." She bent down, picked up the shoe box, and opened it. The shoes were beautiful! They were black with white stitching down the sides and over the toes. When she had slipped them on and pulled her hair into a high, messy bun, she walked out of the room and cleared her throat to get Troy's attention because he had his back turned her way. When he turned around and saw Sharpay, his jaw dropped. She looked stunning. She looked at him: "Do you like it?" Did he like it? He loved it, but he couldn't find the right words to compliment how beautiful she looked. "You don't like it? Well, I guess I could find something else." She went to turn around when Troy caught her hand.

"Pay, I love the dress. You look absolutely stunning in it."

She turned around to look at herself in the mirror and Troy stood behind her. She knew that they were the perfect couple; she didn't need anyone to tell her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After paying for the suit and the dress with her Mom's credit card, Sharpay decided that she needed some new jewels to go with it.

"What do you think about these Troy?" she held up yet another pair of square diamond earrings.

"Pay, they all look the same to me." He wasn't trying to be impatient, but he just didn't understand the difference.

"Troy, these are the biggest ones they have. They're a full carat… each." She smirked at him and then he understood she was just messing with him.

"These are beautiful, Pay, but I think you look beautiful no matter what you're wearing." He stood behind her with his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.

Sharpay smiled. "I'll take these, Brian… And the ring I picked out earlier…Thank you… Are you ready to go, Troy?"

"You don't even know! Let's get out of here." They left the mall and went to get in the car when Sharpay's phone rang.

"Hello?… Oh, hi Mom… Yes, I'll be there… And I'm bringing a guest… Yes, it's a boy Mom. His name is Troy Bol-…_Click _Goodbye to you too!" Sharpay hung up and threw her phone in her purse. "I swear she has some nerve."

"It'll be okay. Do you wanna go back to my house and get ready? You left all of your stuff there." He reached over and grabbed her hand, when he felt her relax automatically.

"That'd be great, Troy. You don't think your parents would mind?"

"Pay, haven't we already gone over this? They like you. Trust me. And besides, I want them to see how hot my girl looks tonight.' He smiled and Sharpay slapped him playfully on the arm. "What's this party for anyway?"

"My future." When Troy looked confused, she continued. "The only reason my Mom is going is because her new boyfriend is going. But what matters to me is that this party is going to be crawling with casting directors from all the major agencies. Some really magical things could happen tonight."

"Wow, Pay. That's really cool. Well, I'll be there with you the whole time in case you get nervous. Who am I kidding? You'll do great, Pay!" He leaned over and kissed her at a red light and then kept on. "I know you really don't want to talk about this right now, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what happened between you and your mother?"

"As you probably know, or you might not, my Dad died the summer before freshman year. It was storming really badly and he and I were in the car together. All of a sudden, the tires hit a really slick part on the highway and the car rolled. We were both sent to the hospital, but I was the only one that lived. I was old enough to know that it wasn't my fault, and Ryan knew it too. But, right after Dad died, Mom started to drink a lot and it kept getting worse and worse. She blamed me for his death. My Mom and I never had a close relationship, but I couldn't take it anymore. I started coming home really late at night while she was hopefully at the bar. It just never got better."

"Wait. The summer before freshman year was when we stopped being friends. That's when you became the…the…" Troy didn't know if he should say it or not.

"The "Ice Bitch"? Yeah, it is. And the reason I stopped being friends with you was that you reminded me too much of my father. Every time I was around you, I missed him more than any other times. The pain just wouldn't go away." Troy looked over and saw that Sharpay was crying a little. He reached over and took her hand in his. "I am so sorry for all the things I said, or did, to hurt you over the past three years."

"It's okay, Pay. When you told me you didn't want to be friends anymore, I should've fought back harder, instead of just walking away." As he pulled up in front of his house, he leaned over and kissed her. When they pulled apart, Sharpay looked in the mirror.

"Troy, I can't let your parents see me like this. I'm all red and puffy." She casually laughed at herself.

"Would you like a bag to put over you head?" He raised his eyebrows at her and walked around to her side of the car to open her door for her. "You look fine." He took her hand and helped her out and grabbed the bags. Once they were inside, Sharpay made a dart for the stairs to Troy's room, but not before Lisa and Jack could see that she had been crying. They both gave him questioning looks but he returned them by mouthing 'later', and ran up the stairs. When he got there, Sharpay was standing at the window looking out on the world. Troy walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Troy, how can something so beautiful, be so cruel?" she said with complete seriousness.

"I don't know. But, I know that there is one beautiful thing that is definitely not cruel."

"And what would that be?" she asked turning around to face him. She laid her head down on his chest.

"You." Troy felt Sharpay smile against his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Pay, we need to get ready. I'll go down to the other bathroom and take a shower so you can have the bigger bathroom." He started to walk out the door, when she caught him and brought him close to her.

"Have I ever told you that you are the best guy in the world?" she leaned up and kissed him and he walked off to take a shower. Sharpay stood there a minute, and then also went to take a shower. When she got out, she noticed that Troy was in the bedroom changing into his suit. "Hey sexy." Troy turned around and smiled at Sharpay who was leaning against the bathroom doorframe with a towel wrapped around her.

"Hey yourself." He walked over, kissed her quickly on the cheek and then walked into the bathroom to fix his hair really fast. Sharpay followed suit and stood next to him, putting product into her own hair. But, unlike every other day, it wasn't straightening gel, it was just regular old Frizz-Ease. "So, you're going to go all-natural tonight?"

"Yep. I'm going to let it air-dry like I used to."

"I haven't seen that hairdo since… since forever ago. I like it curly." He smiled at her softly.

"Good, because I don't have time to straighten it." All of a sudden they heard a knock at the door.

"Are you two decent?" It was Lisa. Sharpay was standing there in a towel so she motioned for Troy to give her his t-shirt that he was wearing. He took it off and she quickly put it on.

"Come in." Lisa walked in and saw that all was in order. Troy was spiking up his hair and Sharpay was sitting on the bed doing her makeup.

"Jack and I are going to run up to the store. Do ya'll want anything while we're there?"

"I think we're okay, Mom. Pay, do you nee anything?"

"Nope. I'm good!"

"Alright. We'll be back before you leave!" with that, she closed the door behind her. When Troy was done with his hair and getting ready, he walked into the bedroom and saw that Sharpay was still sitting there. He sat down next to her and she laid her head down on his shoulder.

"Troy, I don't know if this is such a smart thing to do, going to the party, I mean. Maybe this just isn't the right time in my life to be making this decision."

"Sharpay, you're just nervous. Trust me, you'll do great. Now, if we're going to make it on time, you better get dressed." He picked her dress up out of the box and unzipped it for her. Shocking Troy, Sharpay stood up, turned her back on him, and then lifted the t-shirt over her head. Troy's eyebrows rose when he realized that she was completely naked and he swallowed deeply. Sharpay obviously heard it because she giggled. She slipped the dress on and then let Troy zip up the back.

When Sharpay turned around, Troy gasped. One last touch, he reached around her and pulled the clip out of her hair, allowing it to fall freely. "Wow. You look amazing."

"Thank you." Sharpay placed a hand on his cheek and sweetly placed a kiss on his lips.

"I'm going to go downstairs and get something to drink. Just come down whenever you're ready to go." He walked out of the room and down stairs. Sharpay looked at herself in the mirror. She really did look pretty. After a last touch to her hair, she walked down the stairs; not expecting all three Bolton's to be standing at the bottom. When she got to the bottom, Troy took her hand. "I told ya'll she looked amazing." He stressed the word amazing and made her blush.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Mr. Bolton." She smiled at him and placed her empty hand on his bicep. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I am. Bye Mom, bye Dad. I'll call when we're on the way back in."

"Okay, honey. Drive safe!" Lisa called after them as they stepped into the Jeep.

Troy looked over at Sharpay who was looking down at her hands in her lap. "Do we need to pick up Ryan on the way there?"

"No, he's going to drive himself… I was thinking. Do just wanna stay at my house tonight? My mom most likely won't be home and Ryan's staying over at his friend's house. I mean, if it's too much, then you don't have to, but I thought it might be nice to have a night all to ourselves." She looked up at him and smiled, simply because he was.

"I'll text my parents later to tell them that I'll be home in the morning. A night to us sounds great, Pay. Why wouldn't I want to spend a night alone with you? Oh, we're here." Troy got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. He opened Sharpay's door and took her hand. Once they started walking, Troy saw how many people were here. "You were right when you said that this was a big event." When they were almost to the red carpet leading to the door, Troy saw a flash from ahead. Paparazzi. He looked at Sharpay with a 'what the hell' look on his face.

"Just smile and wave. Only speak if they ask you a question. I'll explain everything later." She said through a smile. They walked down the carpet a bit and then got stopped by a blonde girl with a camera crew.

"Sharpay Evans! Over here! Melanie Rivers with . Who is this dashing young man?" Ms. Rivers said while holding the microphone up to Sharpay.

"This is my boyfriend, Troy Bolton. We go to school together." Sharpay pulled Troy closer to her.

"Ms. Evans, we haven't seen you in the spotlight lately. Have you already retired at the young age of seventeen?"

"Oh, of course not! I've just been taking a break and focusing on school." All of a sudden, they heard someone behind them yell 'KISS HER'. They looked around and now everybody was yelling along. Sharpay looked at Troy who was a little confused. Sharpay looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes. Suddenly, Troy leaned down and caught her lips in a kiss. Starting to get carried away, they both remembered where they were. When they parted, everyone cheered. Sharpay looked up at the cameras and said, "Hey! This is Sharpay Evans and you're on !"

Troy and Sharpay walked down the red carpet, with only a few interruptions. Once they were inside, an usher showed them the table they were at, and luckily, it wasn't near her mother's. They sat down and ordered drinks, and then they started talking.

"What was that back there? I felt like I was famous!" Troy was still amazed and adrenaline was still pumping through his body.

"You kind of are now. Look, I did a few years on Broadway when I was younger and then when I hit a certain age, I decided to keep it a secret from my friends. During middle school, I was on Broadway every summer. Didn't you ever wonder what I was doing in New York the whole time?"

"I guess I really never thought about it that much. But I know of some really famous Broadway stars that don't get treated like that. Why are you so different?"

"I kind of won a Tony." Sharpay said reluctantly.

"A TONY!! WHAT?!" Troy said a bit too loudly, causing many people to look over at their table.

"Shhh… Calm down. Yes, I won a Tony. It was when I was nine. I had just spent a year as the lead role in 'Les Miserables'. I became 'Broadway's Sweetheart', when everyone discovered that I was the youngest person to ever receive a Tony."

"Oh my god… my girlfriend is famous! That would've been nice to know." Troy held his head in his hands.

"Hey, can we talk about this later and just enjoy our evening? Oh, look! Here comes Ryan!" Sharpay stood up to hug her brother. Ryan looked at Troy and realized he was in shock.

"He found out didn't he?" Ryan said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, when he saw the red carpet and the cameras I think he kind of guessed something was up. I still haven't told him what this party is exactly."

"You mean that this is the 'Broadway Appreciation Awards'. And I bet you also didn't tell him that his girlfriend is getting an award."

"Not exactly." She looked down at Troy and noticed he was still nervous so she sat down in his lap. "Honey, look at me. It'll all be okay. I promise." Troy looked at her and nodded, so Sharpay sat back down in her own seat and Ryan sat across from her.

"Sis, have you seen mom tonight?" Ryan scanned the room quickly.

"No, I wasn't really planning on it."

"Well, I met Jake…. Shar, he's young enough to be our brother! It's disgusting." He made a gagging face and then looked around again, still nowhere to be found.

"They just keep getting younger and younger. I'm going to go to the bar. Do ya'll want anything?"

"I don't, but I would get Troy a beer, or something. He looks like he needs to loosen up a bit."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Sharpay walked to the bar and, while waiting on their drinks, felt someone put a hand on her back. She turned around expecting it to be Troy, but instead it was some dark-headed scruffy guy. "Umm… Can I help you?"

"Yeah, my name's Jake and I was just wondering what you were doing later this evening." He smirked at her and pinned her wrist to the bar. When Sharpay tried to pull away, his grip got tighter. She looked over at Troy and Ryan but they were intently talking and not paying attention. All of a sudden, Sharpay felt a hand slide up her inner thigh and she automatically called out Troy's name.

"Troy!" he turned around and saw her struggling against this guy and ran over, grabbing the guy by his jacket and pulling him off of her.

"Get your filthy hands off of her! You perv!" he walked over to where Sharpay was and took her in his arms. "It's okay, Pay." She just held on to him. Then, when Ryan came to his senses, he ran over and started a fight with the guy. Not realizing who it was at first.

"You jerk! Keep your hands off of my sister!" Ryan had pinned him to the floor and a look of astonishment come to his face. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged up by his shirt collar. He looked around to see his mother standing there.

"Ryan! What in the hell are you doing." She helped Jake up and brushed him off.

"Mom! He was all over Sharpay!" Evangeline Evans looked from her son, to her boyfriend, to her weeping daughter.

"Is this true Jake?" for a moment, it felt as though she had some warmth in her heart, but it all quickly faded when she heard what her boyfriend had to say.

"Eve, baby, I swear, she was all over me. I was just trying to get our drinks." The look of fury came back into her eyes and she walked over to Sharpay, who was still in Troy's arms.

"You little tramp! You aren't happy with your own man so you have to steal your mother's? How pathetic." She looked at her daughter one more time and then turned around to leave. Sharpay looked up at Troy:

"Let's get out of here, okay? And maybe we should just stay at your house tonight."

"Okay. Let's go." They walked out, avoiding all paparazzi, got the car, and drove home silently.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everybody! I'm sorry that this chapter is so short but I haven't updated this story in FOREVER and had a sudden fling to do so. So, without further ado, here is the fifth chapter.**

**-Haleigh-**

**Chapter 5**

When Troy and Sharpay got back to the Bolton house, it was only nine o'clock, so Lisa and Jack were still up sitting in the living room watching television. When they walked in the door, Lisa noticed that Sharpay's face was tear-stained and her eyes were still watery. She got up quickly and hugged her tightly. "Oh my gosh, honey! What in the world happened?" Sharpay started explaining but her words were so slurred from her crying that you couldn't understand what she was saying, so Troy just led her upstairs.

He threw on pajama pants and a tee and walked back down stairs while Sharpay finished getting ready for bed. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he noticed that he was getting 'the eye'. "What?" he questioned his mom.

"Why didn't you tell us that your girlfriend was a famous Broadway star? You know I love the theatre!" she stood with her hands on her hips, reminding Troy a lot of his girlfriend upstairs.

"Mom, I didn't even know until we got to the event tonight. And how do you know?"

"They showed the red carpet live on channel eight. We were flipping channels when we saw the event and I insisted that we watched it."

"That's awkward."

"You're telling me." The whole time Jack had been silent… until now.

"Shouldn't you really be asking what's wrong with Sharpay right now Lisa?"

"Oh, yes! What happened?" Lisa sat Troy down on the couch and listened intently.

"As you know, Shar and her mom don't have a great history together." Lisa and Jack nodded knowingly. "Well, her mother brought her new boyfriend who was all over Sharpay at the bar and then when her mom came over, her boyfriend said that Shar was all over him, so her mom called her some pretty bad things and then we just decided to leave." Troy felt two hands on his shoulders and turned to find Sharpay standing behind him.

"Yeah, Troy and Ryan kicked his ass." She winked at him and walked around the couch to sit next to him. "Anyways, that's all over now. Oh, and by the way Troy, I got a call from my manager. He is so furious that I just left, so I will have to deal with him tomorrow as well as the rest of the theatre community. Oh, and then there's my mother."

"So much to do. So little time."

"Exactly. Now, as fun of an evening I've had, I'm pretty tired so I think I'll go to bed now. Good night ya'll." She turned to walk away and Troy stared after her with a smile on his face. He turned to look at his parents and noticed that his mom had her eyebrows raised and a smile on her face.

"What is that look for?" he asked.

"You really love her don't you, Troy?" he blushed and look at his hands.

"Yeah, I do. I think she's the one, Mom. I really do." It was silent for a moment longer and then Troy spoke once again. "Well, I think I'll head to bed. Goodnight mom. Goodnight dad." He ran up the stairs and slowly opened his bedroom door, trying not to make too much noise in case Sharpay was already asleep. The room was dark so he tip-toed into bed and lay down softly. He immediately felt Sharpay move closer to him. "Are you ok Shar?"

"I guess. I just wish my mom would get her head out of her freaking ass." She chuckled softly. Troy could faintly see her face just inches away from his. He leaned towards her and caught her lips in a kiss. It wasn't one of those face-eating kisses though; it was the kind of kiss you see in romantic movies when the two lovers finally realize that they love each other.

A few seconds later, they pulled apart. "What was that for?" Sharpay asked.

"Because I love you." Troy said oh-so-sweetly.

"I love you too." Sharpay pecked Troy on the lips and moved closer to him. Troy wrapped his arm tighter around her and they soon drifted off to sleep…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_I like what you do to my hair, who knew that looking a mess could feel so good?_

Sharpay's eyes popped open when she heard that oh-so-familiar ringtone playing in the distance. She moaned and crawled out of bed, searching for the source of the ringing.

_I like what you do to my hair, tousle it tease it run your fingers through it. You know how you do it._

The ringing grew louder as Sharpay searched blindly around the room. _Goddamned escalating ringtones… _She finally opened her purse and pulled out her pink iPhone. Without even looking at the caller ID, she hit the green answer button and softly mustered out, "Hello?"

"Sharpay, darling! Why do you sound like you just got run over by a bus?"

"Donny, you know I love you but you have to remember that it is two hours earlier in Albuquerque than in New York City!" Sharpay glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table and her eyes widened in shock (well, as much as they could widen when you were half-asleep). "Oh my god, why the hell are you calling me at six thirty on a Sunday?! Shouldn't you be sleeping in?"

"Honey, you know that I never sleep past eight! Anyways, the day must not be wasted on frivolous sleeping!" Sharpay grunted a little just so that her manager would know that she was still awake. She turned around quickly when she heard Troy rustle around.

"Pay, who the hell is calling you at six thirty in the morning?" Troy mumbled.

"It's just Donny. Go back to bed sweetie; I'll be there in a second." Troy grunted in reply and lay his head back down on his pillow. Sharpay smiled softly and then turned her attention back to Donny once he started talking again.

"Sharpay, you lucky bitch! You're dating him, and sleeping with him?! How much better does life get?" Donny was so flamboyantly gay that sometimes Sharpay felt manly, but right now, all she was was tired.

"I'm glad that you think I'm a lucky bitch but I am really tired and I'm going to go now. Bye Donny." Ignoring the protests from the other end of the line, Sharpay quickly touched the screen where the "end" icon was and set her phone to silent.

Walking back over to the bed, Sharpay saw that Troy was still mostly awake and smiling up at her. "What?" Sharpay laughed lightly.

"You look so cute in my t-shirts." Sharpay smiled and lay down next to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist. She pulled him very close to her and whispered seductively in his ear,

"I bet I look even better without it on."


End file.
